Medgar Evers

Medgar Evers was the field
secretary of the NAACP and a major figure in civil
rights history. Evers paid the ultimate price for his commitment to the
cause of civil rights when he was murdered on June 12th, 1963.

Medgar Evers was born in
1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. Mid-twenties Mississippi epitomised the White
attitude to African Americans in the South. Few black children went to school,
segregation in just about all aspects of life existed, most African Americans
there could only expect the most menial of jobs. Lynching was used to keep the
blacks 'in their place'. The KKK was strong in Mississippi. Where the KKK
existed, African Americans learned to live in fear of doing anything other than
what was expected of them by the dominant White community. Evers grew up in this
environment.

As with all black youths in
Decatur, Evers experienced racial abuse from an early age. In later years he
recollected how a family friend was lynched in the town for answering back to a
white woman. Everyone in Decatur apparently knew who did the killing but no-one
was ever charged and nothing was ever said in public about it. The dead man's
bloodied clothes were left in public presumably as a warning to other African
Americans about the consequences of such behaviour.

"Every
Negro in town was supposed to get the message from those clothes and I
can see those clothes now in my mind's eye. But nothing was said in
public. No sermons in church. No news. No protest. It was as if this man
just dissolved except for his bloody clothes."

Evers

Despite the many obstacles
put in the way of an African American receiving a decent education, Evers got
his high school diploma by walking twelve miles to school and twelve miles back
each week day. During World War Two, he joined the
American Army and was honourably discharged from it in 1946.

Evers returned from a
Europe that had been freed from tyranny. After going through this experience, he
decided that the South should be the same - free from tyranny. Ironically for
Mississippi, Evers had no problems registering to vote for the 1948 election.
However, as the vote neared, his family was subjected to more and more threats.
When the voting day arrived, Evers and his brother Charlie found that about 200
white men blocked their way to the polling station. They never got to vote.

Instead both young men
joined the NAACP. Medgar became a very active member of
it. He combined this work with studying at Alcorn A + M College in Lorman,
Mississippi where he graduated in business administration in 1952. While at
college, Evers married Myrlie Beasley. After graduating, Evers became an
insurance salesman and he had a comfortable lifestyle.

However, in 1954, while his
father lay ill in hospital, Evers witnessed an attempted lynching. His father
had been placed in the 'Negro Ward' in the basement of the hospital. In an
effort to get some fresh air, Evers went outside where he saw a large mob of
whites had gathered, demanding that an injured black man be brought outside for
them. His crime? He had fought with a white man in the town of Union. Injured
after being shot in the leg, the police had brought him to hospital. The mob
gathered outside.

"It
seemed that this (racism) would never change. It was that way for my
daddy, it was that way for me and it looked as though it would be that
way for my children. I was so mad that I just stood there trembling and
tears rolled down my cheeks."

Evers

After this incident, Evers
quit his job in insurance and went to work for the NAACP full-time. He quickly
rose to become a field secretary within Mississippi. Evers became one of the
best known and most vocal members of the NAACP in the state. He moved to the
state capital, Jackson, to be nearer more civil rights
leaders. However, his work gained him many enemies. His children were taught to
throw themselves to the floor if they heard any strange noises outside. Evers
received numerous threats over the phone and shortly before his death, his house
was fire-bombed.

"We
lived with death as a constant companion 24 hours a day. Medgar knew
what he was doing, and he knew what the risks were. He just decided that
he had to do what he had to do. But I knew at some point that he would
be taken from me."

Myrlie Evers

Regardless of the
threats, Evers carried on working - especially with voter registration.

On June 12th, 1963, J
F Kennedy addressed the nation on civil rights and stated that there would
be federal support to push forward integration. Evers had worked all day and
returned home late at night. As he got out of his car, he was shot in the back
and died fifty minutes later in hospital.

"We
both knew he was going to die. Medgar did not want to be a martyr. But
if he had to die to get us that far, he was willing to do it."

Myrlie Evers

Byron de la Beckwith was
arrested for the murder. His rifle had been found near the shooting and he had
been seen by some youths in the vicinity of Ever's house. His car was also
positively identified. However, others stated in his trial that Beckwith had
been seen 60 miles away at the very time of the shooting, and, therefore, could
not have been the killer. Beckwith was tried twice for the murder (in 1964 and
1965) but was not convicted. However, he was re-arrested for the murder in 1991
and found guilty. Sentenced to life in prison, Beckwith died aged 80 in prison.